On November 16th, 1977, the Steven Spielberg film, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", was released to theaters across the United States. Written and directed by Spielbergm the film stars Richard Dreyfuss (who previously appeared in the Spielberg film "Jaws" in 1975), Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and more. Made on a production budget of $19.4 million, the film was released to a limited number of cities on November 16th and 23rd, 1977, and was widely released the following month. The movie was a critical and box-office success, grossing over $300 million worldwide to become the third highest-grossing film of 1977 behind only "Star Wars" and "Smokey and the Bandit". It received numerous awards and nominations at the 50th Academy Awards, as well as other major award shows.
